Latest news with #foodCrisis
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Muslims look forward to the annual Eid feast. Many Africans are now struggling to afford it
Muslim families across west Africa are grappling with the steep cost of rams for the traditional sacrifice that is central to the celebration of Eid al-Adha, a struggle that mirrors the region's deepening economic and humanitarian crises. At the Kara livestock market in southern Nigeria 's Ogun state, ram sellers and buyers are in a bind. Prices have at least doubled compared with last year, slowing sales for what is usually a busy market packed in the lead-up to Eid. 'The ram that I bought for 200,000 naira ($127) last year, this year we started negotiating from 600,000 naira ($380),' said Abiodun Akinyoye, who came to buy meat for the festival. The U.N. World Food Programme said last month that over 36 million people are struggling to meet basic food and nutrition needs in West Africa and Central Africa, a number expected to rise to 52 million during this year's lean season from June to August. More than 10 million of the most vulnerable people across the region have been uprooted by conflict, the WFP said, added to other major drivers like food inflation and climate conditions like extreme weather. 'We are at a tipping point and millions of lives are at stake,' said Margot van der Velden, WFP's regional director. With a majority of Muslim populations in most of the worst-hit countries, families who previously bought rams to take part in the annual joyful festival are finding it difficult to sustain that lifestyle with some spending significantly more of their disposable income on trying to fulfill the religious rites. 'Everyone is suffering,' Nigerian ram seller Jaji Kaligini said as he lamented the cost-of-living crisis fueled by President Bola Tinubu's economic policies, such as a sudden removal of subsidies. "We don't know what to do.' In countries like Niger, where growing insecurity have worsened the living conditions, the military government banned ram exports this year to stabilize local supply. While that has helped availability, it has affected tightened supplies in neighboring Nigeria and Benin. 'There's enough livestock (in Niger),' said Hasoumi Daouda, who was at a local market to buy ram. 'But it's the financial crisis that makes them too expensive to buy.' The challenge of hardship is also raising the question of how obligatory the ram sacrifice is for Muslims. The tradition is not mandatory for those who 'genuinely cannot afford it,' Bukola Hameed, a Nigerian Islamic scholar, said. However, those who can afford it also have 'a duty to share their meat with poorer neighbors,' another Islamic scholar, Mikail Adekunle, added. —--
Sky News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Gaza live: 'No flour, no food, no water' - Palestinians still waiting for aid
'No flour, no food, no water': Gaza still waiting for aid "There is no flour, no food, no water," Sabah Warsh Agha, a 67-year-old woman from the northern Gazan town of Beit Lahiya, has said. "We used to get water from the pump, now the pump has stopped working. There is no diesel or gas." Palestinians in the enclave are still waiting for the promised arrival of food, despite mounting international and domestic pressure on Israel to allow more aid across the border. Fewer than 100 aid trucks have entered Gaza, according to Israel's latest figures, since Monday, when Benjamin Netanyahu's government agreed to lift an 11-week aid blockade. And with air strikes continuing to pound the enclave, local bakers and transport operators said they had yet to see fresh supplies of flour and other essentials. Abdel-Nasser Al-Ajramy, the head of the bakery owners' society, said at least 25 bakeries that were told they would receive flour from the World Food Programme had seen nothing. UK sending £4m aid package to Gaza The UK has announced £4m of new humanitarian support for Gaza. The government says the package will cover essential medicines and medical supplies for up to 32,000 people, safe drinking water for up to 60,000 people and food parcels for up to 14,000 people. The money is to be given to the British Red Cross to deliver humanitarian relief in Gaza through its partner, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. It comes after David Lammy yesterday announced new sanctions hitting violent West Bank settlers, paused free trade agreement negotiations with Israel and called Israel's actions "egregious" and "intolerable". Announcing the package, Jenny Chapman, development minister, said: "The UK is clear - Israel will not achieve security through prolonging the suffering of the Palestinian people." Merz 'very concerned' about Gaza situation Friedrich Merz is "very concerned" about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, his spokesperson says. The German chancellor is in close contact with other European nations to convey his worries to the Israeli government, Stefan Kornelius added. "It is always important for the German government to keep its lines of communication open with the Israeli government and to be able to make its points directly," he said at a government news conference. In pictures: Gazans queue for food as aid supplies stuck Here are the latest images from Gaza City, where Palestinians desperately wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen. As we've been reporting, humanitarian aid trucks have slowly entered Gaza in the past two days but the UN says supplies are yet to reach civilians due to new "long, complex" Israeli security protocols. IDF says it 'fired warning shots' after diplomats 'deviated from approved route' in West Bank The Israeli army has confirmed its troops "fired warning shots" after a diplomatic delegation in the West Bank "deviated" from an approved route. The Palestinian Authority said earlier that a group of regional, European and Western diplomats had gathered to assess the humanitarian situation in Jenin. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the delegation went into "an area where it was prohibited from staying". It said troops "fired warning shots", and that there was no damage or casualties reported. The IDF's statement says officers from the unit "will soon hold personal conversations with the diplomats" and update them on the findings of the investigation looking into the matter. It says the IDF "regrets the inconvenience caused". Israel says 115 'terror targets' struck across Gaza in 24 hours The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says its air force struck 115 "terror targets" throughout Gaza over the past day. "The targets included launchers, military structures, tunnels, terrorist cells, and additional terrorist infrastructure site," it said. The IDF also says it killed a Hamas militant that it says was part of the 7 October 2023 attack. Israel's aid announcement is a 'smokescreen', MSF says The MSF medical aid group, also known as Doctors Without Borders, says Israel's decision to allow a limited amount of aid back into Gaza is "merely a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over". It calls on Israel to stop the "deliberate asphyxiation of Gaza and the annihilation of its healthcare system". Pascale Coissard, MSF's emergency coordinator in Khan Younis, said the "inadequate" amount of aid going into the enclave shows Israel wants "to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving". Watch: 24 hours of UK political reaction to Gaza The UK has suspended trade talks with Israel over what the foreign secretary David Lammy described as "intolerable" attacks in Gaza - but how has Westminster reacted to Israel's aggression? Sky's political correspondent Tamara Cohen explains the past 24 hours in British politics' reaction to Gaza. UAE says it's reached deal with Israel to provide aid for Gaza The United Arab Emirates has confirmed it's reached an agreement with Israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. It said Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's foreign minister, and his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa'ar, spoke on the phone last night to finalise the deal. Abu Dhabi says the food will address the needs of approximately 15,000 civilians as part of its "initial phase". It says the aid includes "essential supplies" to support the operation of Gazan bakeries "as well as critical items for infant care". Israel is yet to comment on the agreement. How much aid has entered Gaza - and where is it going? By Ben van der Merwe, digital investigations journalist The first aid trucks have begun entering Gaza after 78 days of Israeli blockade. The United Nations said nine trucks were given permission to enter on Monday, of which five were actually able to cross into the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, the UN said it had received approval for "around 100" more trucks to go into Gaza. That is still well below the 500 trucks per day that the UN says crossed into the Palestinian territory before the war started in October 2023, and are necessary to meet its needs. The five trucks that entered on Monday remained near the Kerem Shalom crossing overnight, according to the spokesperson for the UN's aid coordination office OCHA, Jens Laerke. It is not clear whether they subsequently departed for distribution centres within Gaza, or if more trucks have since entered Gaza.
